


Two for the Price of One

by Jay Auris (nighthawkms)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: He may be a bit psychic..., He's going to drive Jimmy up the wall, Jealous siblings, Jimmy's brother comes to visit, M/M, or is he...?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 09:24:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1813408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighthawkms/pseuds/Jay%20Auris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jimmy's brother Reggie flies in to see him for a few days. The rest of Team Sassy Science finally gets to meet him, and he instantly hits it off with them. Cue Jimmy's jealousy and unresolved feelings rising to the surface.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 

 

Jimmy's been checking his phone incessantly for the last forty-five minutes. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but they're currently elbow-deep in the corpse of a partially liquified human being. Brian is really tired of having to hold a partially dissected torso open while Jimmy strips a glove off, swipes his thumb on the screen, confirms  _yet again_  that he hasn't had a call, and then pulls a new glove from the box.

After the twentieth time, Brian drops the decaying, putrid forearm he was twisting, strips his own gloves off, and takes the phone out of Jimmy's hands. Ignoring the man's protest, he marches the device over to Beverly, who's at the work table, taking notes on her laptop of their observations.

"Hold this," Brian says, placing the phone next to her. "If it rings, let him know. I'd like to finish this job within the next three hours, if possible."

"That's theft," Jimmy sniffs. "I should report you to Jack."

"Possession, nine-tenths of the law, and you wouldn't report me anyway; remember how you were the  _last_  time I was out of the office for two weeks?"

Beverly chimes in. "The phrase you're looking for is: snarky jackass."

"This is why I hate working with the youth," Jimmy grumbles, picking up a scalpel and forceps, carefully snipping away to allow the kidney to be removed. Brian watches his hands, deftly working, years of practice ground into the knuckles and pads of his fingers. He likes watching Jimmy work; the man's an expert at his craft, but most people might find the idea of admiring your partner's dissection abilities to be a bit... unsettling. So that's the sort of thing that stays locked away in the recesses of his mind.

"I'm thirty-six," Brian retorts. "And Beverly is..." He glances over at her, sees the way she's looking like a lionesses ready to pounce on her prey with one false move. "Er, definitely younger than me but not more than six years. Probably." Ah, there, the glare fades...for now. "The last time we could've been considered 'the youth' was probably around Y2K."

"You're all youth to me," Jimmy says. "Let me have this, it's how I console myself when I watch you do something extremely moronic." The kidney goes into an exam tray with a loud _plop!_ , extra loud for Brian's sake; Jimmy knows he hates those sorts of noises. Disturbing odors have little effect on Brian. Gory sights don't phase him anymore. But the wiggling and jiggling and spurting and squishing of organs...  _eeuuugghh_. He shivers.

Beverly points to the amputation at the bottom of the right leg. "We're missing a foot," she says.

"Gee, how did I miss that?" Brian snarks, rolling his eyes. "I've been working on this guy for two hours, and yet only now, with your insight, have I learned this astonishing fact. Jim, did you notice the lack of a foot too?"

"Yeah, and it seems like you've managed to put it in your mouth." Jim gives him one of those looks, the one that says  _I am unimpressed by your amazing sarcasm skills, please shut up._

"What I was going to say before I was interrupted,  _Captain Jackass_ ," Beverly says, pursing her lips, "is that you should examine the area to determine the exact method of amputation."

All three of them hear the phone buzz at the same time. Beverly answers it before either Jimmy or Brian can make a grab for it.

"Hello? Hi there, Reggie!" Beverly chirps, ducking Jimmy's hands as he mouths  _Give me the damn phone, Bev_  at her. "Oh yes, Jimmy's just in the middle of a dissection, I'd be happy to take a message. You'll be here in about an hour? Oh, lunch with all three of us? We'd love to!" She grins as Jimmy's face falls, and Brian knows why; Jimmy's _never, ever_  let them meet his brother. Any time Reggie has come to visit, he hasn't stepped a foot into the building before Jimmy is ushering him far far away from Brian and Bev's prying eyes. It's almost as if Jimmy's  _embarrassed_  by them (admittedly, there's ample Instagram, Twitter, and SMS evidence that would give him reason to be), so the most interaction Brian's ever had with Jimmy's brother are a few short sentences on speaker phone before Jimmy puts the call back on private.

Beverly finally hands the phone over to Jimmy, winking at Brian as she does so, and Brian bites down a giddy smile. Finally,  _finally_ , they're going to meet the infamous twin. According to Jimmy, they're about as different as peach pie and filet mignon, but Brian isn't sure which one Jimmy thinks he is. Probably the peach pie,  _sweet yet savory_ , Brian thinks.  _With just the right amount of bite_.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Jimmy is saying into the phone, a despondent, defeated expression on his face. "No, I know where we can go- just- I’ll call down to get you a civilian pass, get it at the front desk and then come up to the third floor, you'll see our office from the elevator. Okay, see you." He hangs up, glaring something fierce at Beverly. "Another reason I hate working with the youth, they conspire with each other on devious plans to make my life a living hell." He glances over at Brian, the same lemon-sucking pout on his lips.

"Cross my heart," Brian says, making the hand motions, "this wasn't planned out. But you do have to admit that it's a little odd that we've never been introduced to Reggie after all this time."

"I prefer to keep family and work separate," Jimmy says, and there's something that rubs Brian the wrong way about that sentence. Maybe because he feels that they've developed their own little sort of family; a haphazard collection of individuals who make morbid jokes about decaying body parts, spend weekends getting pissed-drunk on each other's couches, and may have a few mentions in Brian's will ( _Beverly: Kitchen-aid Stand Mixer, DVD collection, grandmother's hand-sewn quilt comforter; Jimmy: medical books, heirloom maple chest, old fiction-writing journals so they can be read, cause uproarious laughter, and then be burned in an appropriate manner_ ).

Apparently his reaction to that is noticeable. "Aww, look Jim, look at Brian's face," Beverly says, pointing. "Now why did you have to go and do that?"

" _That_ was a bit of gas," Brian lies, trying to convey a state of indigestion. He probably comes off more constipated though, because both Beverly and Jimmy fix him with an eye-brow raise. "Anyway, I promise, we won't embarrass you in front of the grown-ups, Papa Price." He grins and ducks when Jimmy tries to slap him upside the head; the hand just swipes the air between the strands of hair on the top layer.

Jimmy runs his tongue over his teeth, squinting at Brian, as if he's trying to decide an appropriate punishment. "Then thank you for offering to pick up the tab," he finally says. "I'll be sure to order the most expensive thing on the menu."

"Wait, what offer?" Brian asks. "I offered nothing."

"No, I like that idea," Beverly chimes in, nodding as she keeps her eyes zeroed in on the laptop screen. "It's been a while since an eligible bachelor paid for my meal, and I won't even have to worry about him trying to get into my pants afterwards." She smirks at him over the top of the screen.

Brian throws up his hands and sighs. He knows he's lost this one. "Fine, but whatever I order is going to have mushrooms in it." They both cringe; they _hate_ mushrooms, which means they won't be stealing any food from his plate today. Yes, this is definitely a satisfactory and equitable revenge. If he keeps telling himself that, maybe it will be true.

"Let's finish and get him closed up," Jimmy says, snapping new gloves on. "I'm sure we'd rather not greet Reggie smelling of formaldehyde and strange bodily fluids."

 

~

 

They've just stripped off their lab coats and wiped down the exam room when there's a knock on the door. Jimmy looks up and sees his brother staring through the glass, grinning and waving at him.

Looking at Reggie is like looking into a particularly odd mirror, one that takes his clean-cut hair and lets it grow out a bit, puts him into a tight black t-shirt that shows off hardened abs Jimmy  _wishes_  he could pull off, and gives him a gold hooped earring pushed through the upper cartilage of his ear left. Other than that and some differences in the appearance of their wrinkles, they fit the bill of identical twins quite well.

"Woah," Jimmy hears from behind him. He glances back; Brian is frozen in place, hand in mid-air, reaching for the bottle of hand sanitizer. He blinks a few times, then deliberately pinches himself in the shoulder. "Nope, this isn't a dream, there really are two of you."

"Well of course there are," Reggie says with a drawl, his voice deeper but more relaxed than Jimmy's has ever been. "Jim's just lucky I didn't absorb him in utero, but he got the brains and I got the looks, so it all worked out in the end." He winks at Brian, and Jimmy swears that he sees Brian swallow a bit harder than normal.

"Reggie," Beverly says, the warmth radiating from her voice as she walks over, pulling him into a full-bodied hug. When they separate, she grins up at him. "You have  _no_  idea how long I've wanted to meet you. Brian too, he can barely handle your brother, much less understand how the world can handle two of you."

"I can speak for myself, thanks," Brian says, walking over and holding out a hand for Reggie to shake. "Nice to see Jimmy wasn't making you up, I was getting suspicious that you were an imaginary twin he created when he was five and photoshopped into all of his family pictures."

"Jim can barely work Skype properly," Reggie says, winking at his brother. "I don't think photo editing is in his repertoire."

"See, this is why I hide him," Jimmy says, slapping his brother on the shoulder in the only greeting he's been comfortable giving the man since they were twenty-three. "He destroys my mysterious, awe-inspiring persona whenever he's around."

"Oh it's true," Reggie says. "I don't humor any of my little brother's bluster." There's a flicker of confusion that runs across Brian’s face, and Reggie must see it too. "Technically I came out of our mother two minutes before he did. Hence why I got the family name and he lucked out with something less...eighteenth-century nobleman-ish."

"But I love your name, Reginald Edward Price  _the Third_ , oh brother of mine," Jimmy says, smirking as his brother makes an audible groan. "James is so boring next to that."

Reggie retorts that his boring name fits his boring personality, and Jimmy makes a crack about being the only brother without a criminal record. They go on like this for a few minutes, until finally Beverly interrupts them.

"Yeah, you're definitely siblings," Beverly says. "My sister and I are the same way with each other."

Brian's still looking back and forth between Jimmy and Reggie, looking like a lost puppy who can't distinguish the scent of his owner. Not that Jimmy owns him or anything. The image of Brian in a collar flashes through his brain, and he shoves it away, cursing his overactive imagination. _I thought I took care of that little problem_ , Jimmy thinks, but he takes a slight step closer to Brian without even thinking about it.

"So where did you have in mind for lunch?" Brian asks. "We've only got an hour, so we can't go far."

"Spencer's," Jimmy says. "It's close, tasty, and fairly cheap."

"What, you're not going to gouge me since I'm paying?" Brian snarks, nudging Jimmy's shoulder with his own. "No surf and turf for Jimmy Price?" Brian's biting his tongue between his teeth, lips quirked in a teasing smile. It's too damn adorable; Jimmy has to look away.

"Nah," he says, waving a hand. "Reg would just call you my sugar daddy and I don't want to prove him right."

"I definitely would," Reggie agrees, patting Jimmy on the arm. "Give me your keys, Jim. I'll drive."

Reggie is a careful but speedy driver, two traits that should be impossible to combine in one person. The drive to Spencer's should take fifteen minutes; Reggie gets them there in ten.

They're shown to a booth; Brian and Bev take the left side, Jimmy and Reggie the right. When the waitress sets down water glasses, Reggie steals the one she sets in front of Jimmy and switches it with his own. "It's an old habit," he explains. "After a certain incident when we were children."

Jimmy grins. "You've never been able to get over that."

"No, I just know you too well to take any chances."

"She just put the drink down."

"How do I know you weren't in cahoots with her?"

Jimmy rolls his eyes, takes the glass, and drinks down half of it. He catches sight of Brian, who's got his fist balled against his mouth, eyes twinkling in an enchanting lighted manner. "What?" he asks.

"Bev might have been right," Brian says. "I don't know if I can actually handle there being two of you."

"Called it," Bev says, sucking on her straw.

After they put in the order, Brian and Bev quiz Reggie on little facts about himself. Jimmy's given them a general idea of his brother; identical, of course, lives in Toronto, has an ex-wife and a thirteen-year-old kid. "They're out in California," Reggie says, sipping his soda. "Somehow all the Price brats end up defecting to the states. You're never taking the Canadian out of me though."

"If I cut you open, your veins would be full of maple syrup." Jimmy snarks.

There's more small talk, and Jimmy drifts in and out of the conversation, having heard the stories Reggie's telling a thousand times before, at every family dinner, every meeting with new friends, every time they hit a bar and Reggie's looking to meet people. He watches instead, watches the way Brian's eyes light up at the funny anecdotes, how Beverly's head drops back, her hair breezing about her face when she laughs.

And to be honest, he's a bit jealous. Jimmy's not a slack when it comes to being a people person, but his brother has always had this sort of charm that could enchant even the most stubborn of naysayers. It's part of the reason he doesn't introduce people to his brother until he's sure they like Jimmy enough to not find his brother the more appealing twin. He's lost enough boyfriends that way. Though Reggie's always been very cordial about it, shown the door to anyone who would pick him over his little brother (and now he's thinking of himself as the little brother. Great).

He catches Brian's eye, and the other man smiles at him, nudging his foot under the table, as if to say _hey, I haven't forgotten about you_. It's really embarrassing how happy that makes Jimmy. He's got to get over this...this infatuation he has for the younger man. It's unhealthy.

Reggie pokes him in the shoulder. "I'm disappointed Jim," he says. "I should've met these two years ago. Why do you always hide the cute ones from me?" he asks, and Bev misses the wink he sends Brian's way, but Jimmy and Brian sure don't. Jimmy watches, feeling a wave of what must be horror, as the faintest hint of a blush creeps its way onto Brian's face, and the other man glances very purposefully down at his soda.

Something like rage seeps its way into the cracks and crevices of Jimmy's mind, but it can't be rage, because he has nothing to be mad about. Still, when Reggie uses one of his many stories to take the opportunity to grab Brian's hand, as an excuse to reenact part of the story, and Jimmy sees the way Brian's pupils dilate ever so slightly as Reggie manipulates his fingers, Jimmy almost stabs Reggie's hand with his fork.

"How do you keep your skin so soft?" Reggie drawls as he examines Brian's knuckles. Beverly's snorting into her water glass, and Brian looks about ready to bolt. "I would think working with your hands all day would build up some calluses." He's doing that thing he does where he looks at you from under his eyelashes, like a fucking porn star (not that Jimmy's received that look,  _god no_ , it's just that his brother doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'too much information').

"Hey, they have some old movie posters in the bathroom hallway," Jimmy says, grabbing Reggie's shirt by the shoulder and pulling him out of the booth. He ignores the way his stomach uncurls when Reggie drops Brian's hand. "I want to show my brother, we'll be right back."

It's a terrible excuse, but Reggie evidently knows him well enough by now that he doesn't question it, just nonchalantly follows his brother to the alcove. "What's the problem, Jim?" He asks, and unfortunately for Reggie, his false naiveté has never worked on Jimmy.

"What are you doing?" Jimmy asks, trying to keep his voice steady but failing miserably as the final syllable comes out with a harsh inflection.

"Making friends, what's the problem?"

"You're  _flirting_  with my co-worker."

"Mmmmm, still don't see the problem."

Jimmy scowls, rubbing his face with his palm. "The problem is... that I don't want you dating my co-workers. It's awkward."

"No, you don't want me dating  _Brian_ ," Reggie says, flicking a bit of dust off of Jimmy's shirt, though maybe it's just an excuse to flick  _him_. "Now what's that all about?" He climbs his forefinger and middle finger up Jimmy's shoulder, tapping the edge of his collarbone.

"That is nothing. You read too much into things; you always have."

"Well, seeing as he's your  _co-worker_ , not your boyfriend, you really don't have a say, do you?"

Jimmy sputters, opening his mouth and then closing it.  _Damn_ , he thinks. _Son of a bitch, he's right_. Yet that feeling ( _possession_ ) isn't going away, it burns and curls inside him like a bitter pill ( _jealousy_ ), and even though Reggie is logically right about this, it just ( _desire_ )- it just feels wrong.

"That's what I thought," Reggie says, nodding his head. "Now, while we're back here, I'm going to take a leak." He strides away into the men's room, and as the door swings shut, Jimmy makes his way back out to the dining area.

He slides into the booth, muttering a greeting as Beverly and Brian welcome him back. "He liked the posters?" Beverly asks.

"What? Oh, yeah," Jimmy says, playing with his straw, watching the ice swirl and bob in the liquid.

"You okay?" He looks up as Brian's hand reaches across the table to nudge his arm. Brian's eyes are searching, prying open his mind ( _heart_ ) and probing for answers.

Jimmy turns his eyes away towards the bathroom hallway, as if looking for his brother's return. "Perfectly fine," he says, though he can see Brian and Beverly glancing at each other out of the corner of his eye; they don't believe him.

The rest of the lunch goes over Jimmy's head. He picks at his food, suddenly having lost his appetite. Reggie seems to have stopped the flirting, at least for now; instead he launches into an in-depth conversation with Beverly about their shared love of biking. Brian keeps looking at Jimmy, trying to engage him, making wisecrack comments in his direction, but Jimmy's in no mood to talk, and he knows he's being terribly rude, but honestly, his whole morning feels soured.

Reggie drops them off back at work; he's going to take Jimmy's car back to the house, settle in, and come pick his brother up at the end of the day. Jimmy prays that Reggie won't turn his house upside down in the four hours he's going to be alone there; Reggie used to be infamous for being able to throw together a party in thirty minutes flat, and even though it's been two decades since the last romper, Jimmy's always a bit worried when he hands over the house keys.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Brian asks as they head in. He rests a hand against Jimmy's back, and normally, the action would make him feel soothed, but now it just makes him feel nauseous.

"Just some indigestion," Jimmy lies. "It'll fade."

The problem is, he's not sure that whatever this is will in fact go away.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

 

Reggie would like to believe that whenever he and his little brother have an argument, it's because Jimmy is a curmudgeon and can't admit when Reggie is right. Jim can be a stick-in-the-mud, and if they weren't identical, Reggie doubts anybody would ever recognize them as kin. Jimmy's not the type to get a tattoo, or a piercing, or march in a gay rights parade, or have casual sex, or start his own business. He's not much of a risk-taker. But after their little conversation in the restaurant, Reggie's starting to believe that just letting his brother continue along this boring, safe path might not be a good idea after all.

Because it's pretty damn obvious, at least to Reggie's eyes, that his brother is head-over-heels for one Brian Zeller. And it's also pretty obvious that, if nobody intervenes, _Jimmy's never going to do anything about it._

It's not that Jimmy's never asked someone out before; Reggie remembers them practicing pick-up lines in college, and his brother's had quite a number of steady boyfriends over the years. But this is...different. The way Jimmy speaks to Brian, the way he moves about the other man, Reggie's never quite seen him so overwhelmed by another person. And when Jimmy gets overwhelmed, he tends to shut down, or turn to booze. The second option is something Reggie would definitely like to avoid; he hates the years that Jimmy gets heavy on the bottle, hates that his sweet little brother has more demons on his back than any one person should have to handle.

So the first step is to figure out whether or not Brian's affection for his brother is more than platonic. He couldn't get a read on the man during their first meeting; Brian's got an outward cockiness that melted under Reggie's usual charms, but he couldn't quite figure whether the looks Brian was giving his brother were those of a friend or those of a person burning to be much more than that.

Reggie's played matchmaker to many a friend and family member. This should be no different. Wine 'em, dine 'em, nudge e'm in the right direction, and bam, his little brother's got a new boyfriend and another reason to be grateful for his twin.

In the morning, before Jimmy's even woken up, Reggie steals his cell phone and finds Brian's number (listed under "Zee, the pain in my ass," and the only reason he can tell it's Brian is because there's a photo linked to the contact info). It's Jimmy's day off, and he stumbles out of bed at ten-thirty, yelling that he's going to the gym and that he'll be back in two hours. Lucky for Reggie; he won't have to explain where he's heading this morning.

He texts Brian from his phone:  _Hey it's Reggie, I got your number from Jim, can I give you a call?_

The phone buzzes not thirty seconds later.  _Eager beaver,_ Reggie thinks.  _But are you eager for me or Jim?_

Brian's texted him: _Sure, at work but the office is empty._

When Reggie calls him, Brian picks up after the first ring. "Hey, I thought you three were off today?" Reggie says. "Jimmy just ran out to the gym."

"I come in for a half-day once a month to clear up any paperwork that could get me shit-canned if it's not done," Brian says. "And Jimmy hasn't been to the gym in months, if he's going it's because he's trying to keep up with you."

"My shirts don't leave much to the imagination, do they?" Reggie asks, laughing into the phone.

"Nope, now I understand how you're the brother with all the stories about one night stands." Reggie can practically feel the warmth radiating from his voice, flowing over him and enveloping him like blanket.  _Ahh, he is a sweet thing, isn't he? Now I understand why Jim was so jealous. I'm almost sad to let this one go._  Ah well, if this man is who his little brother wants, Reggie's going to give them the right push.

"So if you're only taking a half day, that means you'll be available this afternoon? Maybe to get some coffee?" Reggie tries to play it off innocently, although anyone with half a brain would question his motives.

And Brian does so. "I...guess? Er, what's this about, exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, to be honest, Jim's not too forthcoming with his personal life to me, although you might have figured that out already." He hears Brian murmur an agreement. "But I do care about the guy, as much as it pains him to admit, so I like to check up on him and make sure there's no pressing issues I should be concerned about."

"So what you're saying is that you're bribing me with coffee to tell you if Jim has any deep, dark secrets you need to know," Brian says.

_Well I already know the deepest, darkest one, and you don't,_ Reggie thinks, but he definitely doesn't say that.

"Not just coffee," Reggie says. "My scintillating company will also be available to you."

He hears Brian chuckle. "I've heard that before."

"I can't possibly imagine from who," Reggie says.

There's a drawn out moment, where Reggie can tell that Brian's trying to decide whether pissing Jimmy off a bit is worth hearing what Reggie has to ask him.

"Fine, yeah," Brian says. "I'll be out of work at noon, and I have to mail a package, so twelve-thirty work for you?"

"Sure. There's a coffee shop right by Quantico, right?"

"Yeah,  _Ducky's_. Jim gets us coffee there at least three times a week when we're not on the road."

"Alright, I'll see you soon, sunshine," Reggie chirps, hanging up before Brian can respond. He likes to play coy that way.  _Hey, I may not want to date him, but I can still have a bit of fun._

Reggie grabs the bus a half mile down the road from Jimmy's house, enjoying the cool summer breeze wafting it's way through the air. He's at the coffee shop fifteen minutes early, but that was his plan anyway. By the time Brian walks through the glass front door into the mellow atmosphere of the shop, Reggie is seated at a round table, a mocha latte in hand, and a double shot espresso resting on the table across from him.

"Is that for me?" Brian asks, sliding into the seat and popping the lid off the top to check it when Reggie nods.

"I may have snuck a peek at my brother's text messages as well as his contacts," Reggie admits. "You probably owe him enough coffee money to fund a small child's college education."

"I always offer to pay," Brian says, taking a sip. "But he never let's me. And if I say I don't want anything, he'll order it for me anyway."

"That is one of my little brothers good traits," Reggie says. "Unfortunately, I'm not so magnanimous. I require payment for my coffee purchase, and in lieu of money, I can think of other ways you can pay me." He winks suggestively, and Brian chokes on his next sip. Reggie tips his head back and laughs. "I mean information. Gosh you're quite easy to fluster, aren't you? No wonder my brother likes you."

"Hah, erm, what sort of information?" Brian asks, and Reggie can see the defensive aura blooming behind his eyes, a sense of protectiveness for his brother that is surprisingly strong.

"Well, believe it or not, Jimmy dearest isn't very forthcoming with his personal life, even to his twin." Reggie takes a long drink, to let that sink in. "And so sometimes I have to find other ways to make sure he's taking care of himself, or being taken care of, if you catch my drift."

"So I'm the newest choice to be your mole," Brian says, He's looking sour, and Reggie had best soothe his worries before this ends badly.

He takes a chance, reaches out and rests a hand over Brian"s. "I'm not looking for you to tell me things he's sworn you to secrecy about, if there are any of those." Brian's hand twitches, but he doesn't move it, and doesn't look away. "I just need to know that he's doing okay. That he's not back to using the bottle for companionship instead of other people, like yourself. He must have told you something about how he used to get."

"He only opens up when he's got a bit of booze in him, ironically enough," Brian mumbles. "Yeah, yeah he's told me a bit. And I promise you, Reggie, I've been looking out for him." He seems rather insistent to impress this upon Reggie, as if he wants the man's approval.

"So he's not abusing at the moment? Not more than can be helped, anyway."

Brian shakes his head. "He has bad nights, usually I get a call when he does. But that happens maybe every, three or four months?"

Reggie breathes a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding. He draws his hand back, feeling a release of tension from the other man. "Good, now that I've got that out of the way,  next question. Is he seeing anyone?"

"Not at the moment. Er, at least, not that he's told me."

"I suspect he tells you almost everything," Reggie says. _Almost everything,_ he thinks,  _except the one thing that's most important._

"Hah, now I feel bad," Brian says. "He's your brother, I'm only his friend, feels like this should be reversed."

"Oh, but that's only the most basic way of looking at things. After all, the blood of friendship is thicker than the water of the womb." Reggie runs a hand through his hair, and notices how Brian's eyes trail the movement, familiar with its course.  _Little brother has the same habit_ , Reggie thinks. This must be truly odd, talking to someone who looks almost exactly like Jimmy about Jimmy. Reggie has experienced this scenario many times before, and he might have used it to his advantage once or twice. Because he can ask the questions that his brother is too afraid to, and maybe get the answer that his brother deserves to hear.

"I almost feel like I've known you for years," Reggie continues. "My brother talks about you and Beverly any time we chat. You especially."

"Ah, yeah?" Brian grins and rubs the back of his neck. "Good things I hope."

"Better than good, and I have to say, I'm glad he has someone in his life he cares that deeply for." Reggie pulls out his best Jimmy smile, and rests his hand on top of Brian's once more. "I suspect you feel a similar level of affection."

Touch is a powerful tool. If you surprise someone with it, it can act like a hammer, cracking a hole in their shell, letting you see what they're hiding for the briefest instant before they plaster up that hole. Reggie's used this technique on every single one of his brother’s boyfriends or potential boyfriends that he's been able to get alone, and Jimmy hates it, hates how Reggie can instantly tell how long Jimmy’s relationship is likely to last with that person. It's eerily predictive, down to the number of months. He wouldn't call himself psychic, more just a student of human psychology.

When he touches Brian, nudges him with carefully studied words, and peers into his eyes, he's almost knocked back the bottomless pool of expression in Brian's baby blues. There's a fierce fire burning there, a peerless, singular emotion, and Reggie would call it love, but that word's not strong enough, not nearly capturing the depths of feeling that Reggie discovers in the flash before it's hidden away once more.

"Of course, I care about him very much, he's my best friend." Brian jerks his hand back harshly, the spell broken. Reggie actually takes a second longer to recover, as his mind calculates, determines that he can't count the months, the years they would potentially have together - there isn’t an end to it.

"Brian-" he starts, unsure of how to go on, how to explain what he needs Brian to do, because he's not going to let this go,  not if it could give his little brother the happiness he's always deserved.

But Brian's too spooked, his wide-toothed grin cracking with the tension he's radiating from his bones. "I just remembered, I've got a few more errands to run today," he says, an obvious lie made up on the spot. "I've got to run. Ah, if I don't see you before you leave, it's been very nice to meet you." He's so frazzled, he doesn't even wait for Reggie's reply, just hurries out of the shop.

Reggie sighs and sips his coffee as the clock in the shop chimes one. Jimmy will probably be home soon, and Reggie should really get back before his phone starts buzzing non stop. He's going to have to make plans, careful ones, because he knows how his brother is. Jimmy hates it when Reggie gets involved in his love life, and now that he thinks Reggie is interested in Brian, there's a dangerous jealousy bubbling.

Although now that he thinks about it, he could use that to his advantage….

 

 

~

 

 

Jimmy is going to  _kill_  his brother. It's bad enough that he's more personable, more fit, more adventurous than Jimmy. Bad enough that he's charmed away half the friends and boyfriends Jimmy's ever had.

But now he's  _actively_  going after Brian, and Jimmy won't stand for it.

_He's only here for four days, why the hell can't he leave well enough alone?_  Jimmy thinks, grinding his teeth as he stares at himself in the bathroom mirror, freshly showered, face pinched into a sour expression.

Reggie had mentioned in that nonchalant manner he always manages to speak in, no matter the news he's giving ( _by the way, your grandmother is dead, just thought you might want to know, dear brothe_ r) that he'd met Brian for coffee that afternoon. And according to Reggie,  Jimmy's friend is so likeable, he understands exactly why they'd have such a strong friendship (that last word had been emphasized with a musical tone, implying multiple things that left Jimmy feeling a paradoxical combination of cold and burning with rage).

But most of all, there's a stabbing sense of betrayal, and maybe it's not fair, but why would Brian have agreed do that? Did he- was he actually interested in Reggie? It honestly hurts to think that maybe, maybe if Jimmy was a little better looking, a little more charming, a little more open….

No, no, he's been over this. The feelings he has need to stay platonic, Brian has...Brian has potential for a future that passed from Jimmy's sights many years ago. He's young enough to still want kids, fit enough to still attract any number of men and women, and when he reins in his tongue, he's charming enough to land someone much more suited to him than Jimmy would ever be.

Someone who is definitely not Reggie Price.

Brian needs to know this, needs to understand what he's getting into with his brother. So when Jimmy steps out of the bathroom and sees his cell phone on the bedside table, he grabs it and calls the other man, sitting on the edge of the bed and digging his toes into the carpet in a nervous tic as he listens to the ringing tone.

"Hey, Jim," Brian says when he picks up. "Having a nice day off?"

"Why the hell did you have coffee with my brother?" Jimmy blurts out, wincing when he hears his own voice, discordant and chaotic. They're already off to a terrible start.

"Because he asked me to?" Brian replies, as if that's an excusable reason. "I was trying to be polite."

Jimmy laughs, a high-pitched, almost hysterical sound. "I don't care what you were trying to be. Listen to me, Zee, stay away from him."

"What is going on?" Brian actually sounds concerned, but he doesn't... he doesn't  _understand_.

"Promise me," Jimmy insists.

"I'm not promising you shit, Jim," Brian says. "You still haven't told me what's going on, and you're not making any sense."

"My brother is a manipulative bastard, and every time he visits he does something to fuck with my life, so I would really,  _really_  appreciate it if the way he does it this time isn't through you."

" _Jesus_ , Jim, we just had coffee, that's it, I swear."

"He must have said something, asked you something that sounded odd."

Brian goes quiet on the line, and a knot of panic twists itself up into Jimmy's throat.

"He just wanted to know how you were doing in general," Brian says, but Jimmy can tell when he's lying, he gets the same flat, neutral tone in his voice that must be an attempt to hide any emotional response, but instead points out the deceit in his words. "And anyway, where do you get off ordering me around and telling me who I'm allowed to talk to?"

Oh,  _oh_ , Jimmy's too late, isn't he? _No, no no no no, he can't- they can't be…_.

Brian is saying something, but Jimmy's not listening, there's an icy prickle traveling through his body, slipping into his veins and entering his heart, expanding through the muscle and solidifying it into a cold, lifeless thing, a pain he thought he could avoid, but it's always been inevitable, hasn't it? _I'm a coward_ , Jimmy thinks, fisting a hand into the sheets and biting his lip.

"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" Jimmy asks. The panic rises to his throat, makes him lash out. "Nothing I say is going to get through your stubborn pig-headed brain."

"Insulting me isn't the best way to get what you want, Jim," Brian grunts. "And I'm not going to enable whatever paranoid delusions you've got about what happened between me and your brother."

" _Paranoid_ - you know what, I'm done. Have fun, I'm sure you two will have a grand time together."

He hangs up before Brian can get his next words out. The phone rings as he tosses it onto the bed, he let's it go to voicemail, and the next call, and the next one. Then it starts buzzing text messages, and he turns the damn thing off.

Jimmy runs his hands through his hair, staring between his feet at the carpet, unblinking, and it starts slowly, a tremor in his hands, a shiver in his toes, but it grows, and soon enough, he's shaking all over, unbidden tears glancing off his nose and landing in the fibers of the plush rug. He sniffs and wipes his eyes, taking a few deep, forceful breaths to drive away the overwhelming tidal wave of emotions, and gets to his feet.

When Reggie gets home from the shopping spree he's currently out on, he will find a note on the front door, telling him that Jimmy doesn't want to see him again until he has to drive Reggie back to the airport. He doesn't care where where Reggie spends the day tomorrow, so long as it's not anywhere near Jimmy. _Spend it with your new fucking boyfriend for all I care_ , Jimmy thinks as he pulls his coat on and grabs his wallet.

As for the rest of the night, well, Jimmy knows a hole-in-the-wall he can hide in, medicating his sorrows with a self-written prescription of gin and tequila. And after that, well... maybe it's time for a new career path.

If he had bothered to turn back on his phone, he might've seen the following string of messages:

_Please pick up._

_You're scaring me, Jim._

_I'm sorry, I'm really sorry._

_Just tell me how to fix this._

_Please don't shut me out._


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

 

 

 

If Brian was worried before, it's nothing compared to how he feels when Jimmy doesn’t show up for work. Jack pokes his head in their office in the morning around 9:45, let's them know that Jimmy left him a voicemail about taking a personal day, and he must've done it early this morning while Brian was asleep, because he's been calling the man every half an hour since last night, except for the few short, restless hours of sleep he forced himself to take.

Beverly sees the tremors running through his hands, and takes him aside a few hours in. "What happened?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "I have _no_  idea. All I did was go out for coffee with Reggie, and suddenly Jimmy's jumping down my throat and telling me I can't talk to his brother."

Beverly frowns, tapping her thumb against her lips like she does when she's solving a particularly difficult puzzle. "Did he say why?"

"Something about manipulating me or using me to get to him. I mean, I know they're not close, but Reggie doesn't seem like a terrible guy, not to the level that Jimmy seems virulently opposed to us talking."

"He definitely wasn't this way during that first lunch either," Beverly points out. "If he really was a bad guy, I'd imagine that Jimmy wouldn't have let us meet him at all. So what changed?"

"Again, I'm clueless." Brian shrugs and rests against the back wall, slumping his shoulders and tipping his head back. "And Jim won't pick up the fucking phone and tell me what's going on."

Beverly makes a _hmmmmm_ noise, and Brian glances back down at her expectantly. "Let's get back to work," she says, waving off the curious look he gives her. "Jack's still going to expect the same caliber of work, even with one of us gone for the day."

She seems to have dropped the discussion, but when Brian gets a ring later on and sees Reggie's number, he has the slightest suspicion she might have had something to do with it.

"You know your brother tried to ban me from talking to you?" Brian says when he answers.

"Believe me, I am well aware," Reggie says. "Unfortunately, my brother got the wrong idea about our conversation, and now he's not speaking to either of us."

"I'm sorry," Brian says, because he honestly doesn't know what else to say.

"No, it's completely my fault, I feel terrible," Reggie says. "I want to make it up to you both, I'd feel terrible if I left while you two were still on the outs. So you're invited to dinner tonight at seven, all three of us will sit down and hash this out."

"I thought you and he weren't speaking...Jimmy's okay with that?"

"I've been...talking  _at_  him," Reggie admits. "He's starting to come around to it; by the time you get here he'll be fine, I promise."

Brian bites his lip, twirling his finger around in a maneuver reminiscent of when he was a child and had one of those big corded land line phones, a nervous fidgeting, where half of him says this is a terrible idea and the other half is screaming to say yes.

The latter half wins out. "Okay, I'll be there... can you just talk to him for me? Ask him to pick up his phone?"

I'll try," Reggie promises, "but knowing him, he'll be too stubborn to talk until he actually sees you in person."

Brian sighs. "You're probably right, but just give it a shot. Should I bring anything?"

"Just your fabulous self," Reggie says, a warmth in his voice that must be genetic, because it makes Brian's chest tingle in the same way it does when Jimmy talks that way. "If you get there and we aren't home, just wait a few minutes, I might be chaperoning him to a doctor's appointment right before dinner."

Brian hangs up, but he doesn't put his phone away just yet. Instead he pops open the SMS app and sends one more message to Jimmy.

_I promise, whatever you think, I'd never do that to you._

 

~

 

Brian is in his driveway when Jimmy pulls in.

_Shit_ , Jimmy thinks, meeting his eyes through the window. _I didn't think he'd be this persistent._

"What are you doing here?" Jimmy asks him as he steps out of the car. "You know I'll eventually start responding to your messages again, right?" He still hadn't turned his phone back on. He can't bear to handle whatever they have to say right now.

"I'm here for dinner, remember?" Brian waves his own cellphone around. "Reggie said you two might be late, so I waited."

"You're still talking to my brother," Jimmy says, and he doesn't know why he's surprised. "And what dinner? I haven't spoken to him in the last 24 hours. I just got back from the dentist, and he's been out of the house all day." He presses a hand to his forehead; the effects of last night's drinking left him tired and with a persistent headache.

"He didn't tell you," Brian says, a revelation dawning on his face. "That son of a- um, biscuit." He’s not sure Jimmy would take kindly to Brian insulting his brother, even at this point.

"Not going to offend me, he is a son of a bitch," Jimmy says, and the smirk that wrangles it's way onto Brian's face melts a little bit of the ice on Jimmy's heart.

Brian taps his fingers on the hood of his car. "This was all a set up then. He wasn't ever coming, he just wanted to force us together to get us to talk."

"I told you he was manipulative," Jimmy says. "But don't believe the man who’s been his identical twin for five decades. I don't know what I'm talking about."

"Fine, fine, you're right," Brian says, shaking his head. "Look, I'll just go, okay?" He straightens up and opens the driver's side door.

"No, don't." Brian pauses when Jimmy steps towards him. "Look, just come inside. I'll...I'll throw something together to eat and we can talk."  _Might as well get this over with_ , Jimmy thinks.  _The faster I give them my blessing, the faster I can try to get over this._

Brian follows him up the front steps, and as he unlocks and pushes open the front door, they are hit by a wave of fragrance, a delicious, rich sort of smell that nearly knocks Jimmy out of his socks.

"What is that?" Brian groans, and the sound he makes should be illegal. "It smells like what heaven should be like."

"Reggie?" Jimmy shouts. "Are you here?" Silence. "It's probably coming from the kitchen."

The smell overwhelms Jimmy's nostrils as they enter the room, he can practically taste it. There's a radiating heat from the oven, but the knob is turned off, so it's likely cooling off from whatever it was cooking. Jimmy opens the door, and on the top rack is a roasting pan, with a large slab of some sort of meat sizzling in the middle, stewing in its own juices, surrounded by various cuts of vegetables like red potatoes, carrots, and onions. He can pick out hints of rosemary, thyme, and garlic in the scent.

Brian stands next to him, gaping down at the display. "He cooked us a pot roast?"

"He's a fantastic cook," Jimmy grumbles, adding it to the list of reasons why his brother is a stupidly perfect specimen of humanity that he will never be able to compete with. Both of them know that Jimmy is an adequate cook at most. He's got a few good dishes, but anything else he tries somehow ends up unworthy of anything except the trash bin.

Brian pokes him in the shoulder. ""There's a light in the dining room," he says, motioning behind them to the other doorway that leads out to the aforementioned room.

The next surprise is waiting for them in there. The dining table is an antique wooden piece with removable panels that allow it to collapse into a smaller form. Reggie has taken all of the panels out, centering the remaining circular tabletop in the middle of the room, with two chairs seated on opposite sides. On top of the table are two place settings: two of Jimmy's fine china plates,  two forks and two knives, two red placemats, two fluted wine glasses, and in the very middle, a flower arrangement with a battery-powered electric candle glowing in the center of the arrangement.

"What the- what is this?" Jimmy stutters. "None of this was here when I left."

"There are notes," Brian says, pointing to the two envelopes lying atop the plates, one labeled for each of them. They glance at each other, then move over to the table and pick up the letters. Jimmy has the urge to tear Brian's from his grasp, the last chance to stop this… but he’s still a coward in the end, so he focuses on his own envelope.

Jimmy slides the paper out of his envelope, flips it open, and reads in Reggie's neat, swooping cursive:

_Little Brother, before you start throwing a little temper tantrum, let me explain. I played a little trick tonight, but only in the best interest of both of you. If you haven't already, you'll find a roast waiting in the oven, and if you have this letter, you've obviously seen the table set. Listen to me, whatever flaws or deficiencies you think you have, it won't matter to Brian. I promise. Sit down, eat a meal together, and talk about how you feel, because I can't stand seeing people hide from the happiness they deserve. And you do deserve it, Jim, even if you'll never hear me say it out loud (can't give you too much blackmail material, can I?) I promise, if Brian is reading the other letter, it will be easier than you think._

He can't move for a solid ten seconds. He's afraid to look up, afraid to see what Brian's expression currently looks like, because if Reggie is wrong, if- if Brian doesn't like what he reads...

"Jimmy," Brian finally says, voice sounding breathless. Jimmy looks up, and Brian is twisting the letter in his fists, eyes welling with an indiscernible emotion, lips parted in a downward curve.

Jimmy opens his mouth, even though he has no idea what to say, but then Brian is crowding him back against the wall, letter dropping thoughtlessly to the ground as he presses his warm, possessive hands to Jimmy's face and draws him into an exuberant kiss.

Brian won't let him up for air, drowning Jimmy in the tidal wave of his need, overwhelming his senses. He tastes like cinnamon gum and a rich, filling red wine. His palms are smooth and supple like tanned leather against Jimmy's skin. Jimmy moans out a desperate, needy sound and wraps his arms around Brian's waist to ground himself in this moment. He has to make sure it's real, and he's not imagining the forceful slide of Brian's fingers into his hair, tugging Jimmy's head back to gain better access to his mouth, slipping his tongue inside, prodding and demanding synchronicity with Jimmy's own.

Finally the heady lack of oxygen threatens to make him faint, and he wrenches back, panting and staring up at the strange, yet familiar expression on Brian's face. He looks torn between wanting to punch Jimmy and wanting to pull him back in for another kiss.

"Why didn't you just _tell_ me, Jim," Brian whines, stroking his thumb across the jut of Jimmy's chin.

"Tell you what?" Jimmy murmurs, still dazed from the kiss.

"That you want to be with me."

The blood in Jimmy's veins freezes again, this time from shock rather than despair. Brian doesn't look disgusted or embarrassed or hateful or pitying, he looks...overjoyed.

Brian presses a gentler kiss to Jimmy's lips, muttering against them."What were you so afraid of?"

The question makes him halt, makes him remember all the reasons he's determined they can't be together. "You can't throw away the rest of your life on me, Zee," Jimmy says, trying to nudge Brian back a bit but failing, as the other man doesn't seem to want to stop touching him. "I'm an alcoholic old sourpuss in my twilight years. You've got too much potential to tie yourself to me."

"Stop it," Brian growls, digging his nails into Jimmy's shoulders. "Stop putting yourself down like that. You are- you are brilliant and kind and sweet and you make me laugh like nobody else, and I don't want whatever fantasy ideal you've constructed that you think I deserve. I want what I need, and I need you, Jim. Simple as that."

Jimmy tries to tell him, tries to insist that Brian is wrong, even as his own soul screams at him to let it be. The reasons that once seemed so relevant, so important, fade to the background as Brian destroys each one with a kiss and three words, "I don't care." He doesn't care that Jim is nearly two decades his senior, doesn't care that he's got issues with booze, doesn't care that he's a cranky bastard.

"I already knew all of that, you idiot," Brian laughs, shaking his head and dipping it down to press a luscious kiss to Jimmy's collarbone. Jimmy shivers and relaxes as his fears are quelled by Brian's insistent words. "If you took any of that away, you wouldn't be you, and I don't want anyone _but_  you."

"You, ah, you're sure about that?" Jimmy asks as Brian continues the kissing, leading a trail down his neck that makes him shudder and stirs a long-neglected part of his anatomy. "Lots of people infinitely more suitable for you than I am."

" _Liar_ ," Brian mutters. "Let me show you just how suited to each other we are." And then he's plundering Jimmy's mouth again, dragging him forwards by the waist, out of the dining room, through the kitchen, down the hallway and towards the bedroom.

Brian presses him down onto the bed when they arrive, kneeling over him, shoving his shirt hem up to lick and kiss a trail down Jimmy's stomach. Jimmy gasps, arches and digs the pads of his fingers into Brian's back, feeling the muscles in Brian's shoulders flex and contract, mapping out the structure of his scapulae as Brian's mouth trails lower...lower…. When he can’t reach the shoulders, he moves his hands to Brian’s hair, toying with the curls, soft and silky and pleasant to touch.

He hears the button on his jeans pop open, feels Brian's hand nudge the zipper down slowly, much too slowly. Then the cool air hits his bare skin, a burst of exhaled breath flutters against his groin, and Jimmy cries out as Brian slides the wet, warm heat of his mouth around Jimmy's cock.

Jimmy's eyes flutter shut as Brian begins to suck, artfully sliding the curve of his tongue up the veiny underside of Jimmy's prick. He's pinning Jimmy's thighs to the bed, keeping him in place, making sure he can't escape, not that he'd even want to. Brian swipes his tongue in a particular manner, testing, discovering which maneuvers will make Jimmy moan the loudest, and then, when he finds a sensitive motion, he repeats it over and over until Jimmy is whimpering his name and yanking Brian's hair with white-knuckled fists, moisture leaking from the edges of his eyes.

Brian lifts his head for a moment, and Jimmy blinks his eyes open to look down at him. "You're so damn sensitive," Brian gasps, his chest heaving in a manner not dissimilar to Jimmy's own. "How long has it been?"

"Since...?"

"Since someone did this for you?"

Jimmy looks away, feeling a reddening heat rising to his cheeks, and damn him, this is the first time Brian's ever been able to make him blush.

"Oh, oh Jim, baby..." Brian leans up, drawing him into a soothing kiss, muttering a number of sweet things into Jimmy's ear, surprising for a man who's usually just a sarcastic bastard.

"I'm fine," Jimmy finally says, taking the chance to nose and nuzzle the scruffy beard like he's wanted to for ages. "It doesn't matter now, as long as you keep going."

Brian nods and slides back down, reapplying his mouth to Jimmy's cock and starting a firm, insistent rhythm, using his newfound knowledge of Jimmy's sensitive places to reduce him to a shivering mess. There's a pooling of heat in his lower regions, thrumming and twisting and curling like a licking flame, a bomb with a lit fuse about to go off inside him. He can feel the orgasm coming on, and he calls Brian's name, tugging at his shoulders, trying to warn him...but Brian won't move, instead lowering himself further, taking Jimmy to the hilt and swallowing around him.

The rush comes, sparking at the base of his spine as his body goes taut, a supernova exploding behind his eyelids. His lips echo "god, yes, yes, Brian, yes!" again and again as he spills into Brian's throat, the other man drinking him in and not sliding off until he's spent himself completely.

Brian crawls back up the bed, meeting Jimmy's mouth with his own, and Jimmy can smell himself on Brian, the musk of his release heavy on the man's breath. "Shit," Jimmy moans, feeling the press of Brian's erection against his leg. "My turn." He rolls them over until he's sitting on Brian's legs, tugging the man's slacks down to expose his cock, thick and glistening with pre-come and waiting for Jimmy's touch.

"Jim." Brian's resting on his elbows, looking at him with hooded eyes, an expression that makes something seize in Jimmy’s chest. "If you get me off now, after I recover, I always last much longer the second time."

An image of what they might be in for later flashes through Jimmy's mind, and he almost faints from anticipation. Instead, he shuffles back to get a good angle, and wraps his lips around Brian's cock.

He discovers a few things while pleasuring his new partner; mainly, that Brian likes to be loud and wordy while getting his dick sucked. He'll tell Jimmy, " _yes, there, that feels so good_ ," and " _faster, please, Jim, oh god_ ," and there are several instances of the use of the endearments, "honey," "baby," and "darling." Jimmy's going to have to tease him about that later, even if it is adorable and flattering to Jimmy's ego.

Jimmy watches Brian's face as he laves his tongue across the slit of Brian's cock. He looks so enthused, flush with the glow of arousal, and as Brian's hazy, softened gaze meets Jimmy's own, a possessive bud blooms in his chest _. I put that look on his face_ , Jimmy thinks, giddiness welling inside of him.  _I made him feel this good._

Brian gets louder and louder, more insistent of Jimmy's mouth as the minutes tick by. "Nngghh, Jim," he moans, "Jim, I'm- I'm gonna-"

And Jimmy doesn't think he can swallow all the way around Brian's cock, so instead, as he feels Brian's cock start to pulse, he closes his eyes and lifts his head, letting Brian's come spurt up to splatter against his cheek, dripping down the rim of his nose and coating his lips.

When he blinks his eyes open, Brian is gaping at him, and he sucks in a little gasp when Jimmy licks his lips, tasting the salty, not-unpleasant richness of his seed.

Brian reaches out, grabbing Jimmy's arm and tugging him up into a forceful, probing kiss, Brian's tongue twisting and dancing with his own before licking its way out and across Jimmy's skin, lapping his release up like a cat starved for milk. When Jimmy is clean, Brian tugs him down to lie on top of Brian's stretched form, nestling Jimmy's head in the curve of his shoulder.

"Weren't we supposed to be talking about our feelings or something?" Brian drawls, thumbing circles on Jimmy's collarbone.

"Can't remember," Jimmy says, yawning and tucking his calf between Brian's legs. "This was much better than talking."

"You should talk though, in the future." Jimmy glances up to meet his gaze. "Don't hold stuff like this in. Be honest with me, alright?"

Jimmy nods. "I usually am very honest with you, Zee," he says, matching Brian's smirk. "I guess I just wasn't being honest with myself about how badly I...wanted you." He shrugs.

"Well I guess it's a good thing that your brother's good at keeping you honest."

"What did his letter say, anyway?"

"Do you want to read it?" Jimmy nods, and Brian slides out from under him, going out to the living room and returning with the paper and a wet washcloth. He sits behind Jimmy, yanking him back to lean against Brian's chest, and as he gently wipes the washcloth across Jimmy's face, Jimmy opens the folded paper and begins to read.

_Brian,_

_Jimmy's hopefully going to be reading his own letter while you're reading this one, so before he tries to steal this away, I have to tell you that he's in love with you. I don't know if this will come as a shock to you, maybe you already know, but if you don't, please know that I've never seen him quite so serious for someone as he is about you. The problem is, he'll never make a move, because behind all the sarcasm and aloofness is a man who doesn't value himself as much as he should, and doesn't think himself worthy enough to be the person you might want to be with._

_I know you feel something for him, I saw it when we talked, and if you could see yourself with him, you're going to have to broach the issue. You're going to have to show him that you're open to his feelings if you ever want him to admit them. So do something big, something wild, and please help my brother be happy, because you may be the last chance he ever has for it._

He lowers the letter to the bed and leans back, the sensation of Brian's arms wrapped around his torso coming back to the forefront of his consciousness. Words aren't coming to mind right now, he knows Brian's waiting for him to say something, but his throat has closed up. Finally, he clears it with a cough. "Well... he's blunt, isn't he?"

Brian presses a hand to Jimmy's cheek and turns his head to look back at the other man. "He's right though, isn't he? About all of it?"

Jimmy smiles, rolling his eyes. "Well you wouldn't believe me if I said no anyway." He twists himself around, straddling Brian's lap, and leans in for a kiss. "But yes," he mutters against Brian's lips. "I do. Love you, I mean."

"Mmmm, about time you said it," Brian murmurs, a pleased smile on his face. "Imagine if we had kept this little star-crossed lovers thing going on for longer. Bev would probably have had a conniption fit."

"So how about that roast?" Jimmy says, tugging his pants back on. "I mean, I do like a good juicy piece of meat." He winks.

Brian chuckles and rebuttons his slacks, following him out of the bedroom.

They pull the roast out of the oven and slice off a good hunk for each of them. As Brian plates the vegetables, Jimmy finally turns his cell phone back on. He reads the messages Brian sent him with a soft smile lighting his face, and feels a buzz as a new one pops up.

_Am I forgiven?_  It's from Reggie.

_Yes, and thank you_ , Jimmy types back.

_I'm guessing everything worked out well. What time am I allowed back in the house? :)_

Jimmy looks to Brian, thinks, and then replies.  _Give us a couple more hours._

They sit down to eat, and it's so easy, like almost nothing has changed; Brian's still a cocky little shit, talking like he's the authority on everything known to man, and Jimmy still snarks at him until he's red-faced and snorting into his dinner plate. The only difference is they only make it half-way through the meal before Brian says something and then Jimmy responds with a flirty tone and suddenly they're kissing and stumbling up from the table, laughing like fools as they drag each other down the hallway and back to the bedroom.

After the second time, after Brian reveals the condom in his wallet and Jimmy finds a bottle of lubricant in his side drawer, after the shucking of clothing and the probing of fingers and the whispers and whimpers of encouragement as they join together, after Brian proves he wasn't a liar about lasting longer, riding Jimmy with a slow, burning pace that's frustratingly gorgeous….

After all that, Jimmy tucks Brian's head to his chest and tells him to sleep and soon after Brian drifts off, Jimmy follows, dreaming of supernovas.

 

 

~

 

 

Reggie comes home that night to a silent house and the remains of his cooking cooling on the dining room table. He has an idea about what caused them to abandon the meal, as when he presses his ear to Jimmy's bedroom door, he hears the sound of two distinct snores.

In the morning, he's sipping coffee and watching TV on the small flat screen on Jimmy's kitchen counter when his brother pads in, wearing a t-shirt and boxers, cracking his back and catching sight of Reggie.

"Someone looks well rested," Reggie quips, hiding a grin behind his coffee cup. Jimmy grumbles something that sounds like an agreement, pulling a mug out of the cabinet and pouring himself a cup, sliding onto the kitchen stool next to his brother.

"I'm sorry," Jimmy says, sighing. "I overreacted. To everything, really."

"Water under the bridge," Reggie says, patting his brother on the shoulder. "I may have had a little too much fun convincing you that I wanted to bang your true love, or whatever you crazy kids are calling it these days. And good morning to you too!" he says when Brian walks in, also wearing boxers and his shirt, unbuttoned and fluttering in the breeze from the kitchen fan.

"Oh, heh, hi Reggie," Brian says, quickly buttoning his shirt up. "Didn't know you were up."

"I'm an early riser," Reggie explains, elbowing Jimmy as Brian turns away towards the coffee machine, and mouthing _you lucky bastard_ to his brother. Jimmy smirks and opens his mouth to say something, but then Brian slides up behind him, wrapping his arms around Jimmy's shoulders and pecking him on the cheek.

"Good morning," Brian grumbles in a thick, sleepy voice. "Mmmm, sleep well?"

" _Very_ well," Jimmy replies, turning his head to kiss Brian properly on the mouth. "Better than I have in ages."

"I wonder why," Brian drawls, looking cheeky. He looks up, grinning at Reggie. "Thanks for making the coffee. What time is your flight?"

"Ten-thirty," Reggie says. "I'm already packed, I'm just waiting for my brother to put on enough clothing to be considered presentable to the outside world."

"Fine, I'll put some pants on." Jimmy slides out of the chair, grabbing Brian's arm and dragging him away. "You're coming with."

Reggie heard Brian whine. "But what if I have plans today?"

Jimmy laughs. "Cancel them. The only plans you have today are with me."

Reggie listens to them go. His brother sounds so...happy. Genuinely so, a contentment in his voice that Reggie hasn't heard in years.

_I'm counting this as his birthday presen_ t, he thinks. _I'm pretty sure I can't top this._

 

 

~

 

 

Jimmy drives to the airport, with Reggie in shotgun and Brian draping his long legs over the backseat, stroking the back of Jimmy's neck as he drives and snickering every time Jimmy glares at him in the rear-view mirror.

When they get to the terminal, Brian leans against the side of the car, the blazing sun beating against his back, and waits while Jimmy and Reggie speak in hushed tones. He catches something about 'Toronto' and 'mom and dad' and 'visit soon,' but he figures Jimmy will tell him later, so he doesn't try to eavesdrop.

Reggie gives him a strong, brotherly hug, and mutters in his ear. "I'd tell you not to hurt my brother or I'll find you and kill you, but we aren't living in a John Hughes movie."

Brian smirks and pulls back. "So what's your next option?"

"If you lose him, you'll regret it until the day you die."

Brian blinks, eyes widening; Reggie looks completely serious, which is a new style for him. "Then I won't," Brian says, glancing over to Jimmy, who's tugging Reggie's suitcase out of the trunk. "Lose him, I mean."

Reggie nods, pats him on the shoulder, and then grabs his suitcase, waving them off as he enters the terminal.

"So plans?" Brian asks as he gets back into the car. "What are we doing?"

"Ah, well, to be completely honestly, I have no idea?" Jimmy grins, resting his hand over Brian's on the console. "I just needed an excuse for you not to leave."

Brian smirks. "You didn't need an excuse," he murmurs, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

"Oh? How long are you planning on staying?"

"I'm thinking forever, if that sounds like a reasonable timetable to you."

"Yes, I think I can work with that schedule. Let me just pencil it in to my planner."

"Well," Brian says, "if you have no ideas about how to spend the day, I'm thinking we call Bev and take a drive down to Virginia Beach? We could sit on the sand, I could rub suntan lotion on your back, Bev could take dozens of blackmail-applicable photos of us being all adorable and shit...."

"Hmmm, I'm surprised you'd be willing to let another person see your adorable side, usually it's all rugged sarcasm and defensive reluctance with you."

Brian rolls his eyes. "I don't think you'd believe that act anymore after last night."

"Oh, Zee, I never believed it in the first place." Jimmy squeezes his hand and throws the gear shift into drive. "Nobody does."

For once, Brian doesn't argue.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope I didn't break anyone again xD

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! Finally got another fic out!
> 
> Thank you sooooo much to Sarah for beta'ing this fic for me! Find her at sugarmaus on tumblr and @ThisMouse on twitter.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at nighthawkms or twitter at @nighthawkms, for more Preller insanity, stupid nonsense and other fandom-related feels.


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